Food is at the center of our social lives; it serves as a vehicle to transmit traditions and the histories of our communities and families. In fact, the larger history of our species including its technological, scientific, social advancements and our relation to the rest of the natural world are all reflected in the foods we consume. Eating food with our communities remains one of the greatest joys of human life, a source of pleasure worth protecting. But input-heavy agricultural production methods and climate change-related weather conditions are putting food production at risk; in addition, currently half of the world’s population struggles with either hunger or obesity.

Our CWRU community, its various offices, departments, students, food service, and the University Farm, engage in cutting-edge research and thoughtful activism to promote mindful eating practices, healthy communities, and environmentally conscious agricultural systems. We believe that in order to produce nutritious food for everyone and for future generations, critical engagement with the cultural, political, economic, and environmental aspects of the food system is more important than ever. Come and join us in our efforts to increase food literacy and promote a sustainable global food system.

Marion Nestle opens the 2018 Cleveland Humanities Festival and CWRU’s 2018 Food Symposium. In this lecture Marion Nestle, Paulette Goddard Professor, of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University, discusses the idea that the paradox of today’s globalized food system is that food insecurity or obesity threaten the health and welfare of half the world’s population. Underlying these problems is an overabundant but inequitably distributed food system in which corporations are forced to expand markets to meet growth targets. The contradiction between business and public health goals has led to a large and growing movement to promote more healthful, environmentally sound, and ethical food choices and to identify a more equitable balance between individual and societal responsibility for those choices.

Every year, 40% of all the food is thrown out in the US. In Cleveland alone, 1 in 6 individuals goes to bed hungry at night. As students of Case Western, it’s so easy to get caught up in the bubble of college life, yet the reality is that so many individuals suffer from food insecurity in our own community, just a mile away from campus. Since starting 3 years ago, FRN has recovered over 15,000 lbs of food from campus and donated it to the hungry in our community. We are so excited to continue our efforts and announce that after much preparation, we will now be recovering from Leutner (!!!!). To learn about how to get involved with Leutner recovery shifts please come to our volunteer training session on Thursday, February 15 at 8 PM in Leutner.

My name is Fanny Huang, and I am a junior Nutritional Biochemistry and Metabolism pre-med student. As a native Clevelander who grew up with food assistance programs, I realize that there are a lot of families in the community who struggle with obtaining nutritious meals. I think that it’s important for us as college students to realize how fortunate we are to have a meal plan and to continuously have a surplus of food available. Instead of throwing away this surplus, I believe that we can use it to alleviate hunger. I love how much growth there has been with FRN, and in the future I hope that we are more integrated with the Greater Cleveland community. I see us building stronger partnerships with other local organizations similar to ours and alleviating hunger together.